MUST-READS

• Petaholic.sa Announces Special Initiative to Support Stray Cats in Saudi Arabia

  Petaholic.sa, a leading organization dedicated to pets and their well-being in Saudi Arabia, is proud to announce a special initiative aimed at providing essential aid to stray cats across the country. Understanding the importance of animal welfare and the challenges faced by stray animals, Petaholic.sa is committed to making a positive impact in the community.

• Saudi Humanoid Robot Won’t Talk About Sex or Politics, Creator Says

  Saudi Arabia's first humanoid robot won't talk about sex or politics because she is Saudi, her creator says. Elie Metri, the CEO of Riyadh-based QSS AI & Robots, told Business Insider that "Sara knows that she's a girl, she's 25 years old, she's 1.62 centimeters, she's wearing Saudi clothing."

• Tencent to expand cloud business in Saudi Arabia and UAE

  Tencent is planning to expand its cloud business in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and will reportedly make "huge new investments" in data storage. The company's plans were revealed in a report by Bloomberg.

• Australia, Saudi get a chance to advance but Japan has to wait in World Cup Asian qualifying

  Australia and Saudi Arabia are among the Asian Football Confederation heavyweights aiming to secure a spot in the next stage of World Cup qualifying with wins Tuesday, while Japan’s bid to advance will have to wait after North Korea cancelled a home game in Pyongyang. Just hours after a 1-0 loss to Japan in Tokyo last week, the North Koreans informed tournament organizers that they could not host the return match.

• Blinken cites progress with Saudis on normalising ties with Israel
  The United States and Saudi Arabia have made "good progress" in talks on normalising ties between the kingdom and Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday without providing a timeline for concluding a deal. "I believe we can reach an agreement, which would present a historic opportunity for two nations, but also for the region as a whole," Blinken said at a joint press conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.

• What’s in store for regional startups in 2024?

  For the first year since MAGNiTT started publishing yearly reports, Saudi Arabia emerged as the region’s most funded ecosystem. Two reasons explain this novelty, and why the Kingdom will likely retain its crown in 2024. First, 2023 saw Saudi host numerous “mega-rounds” (funding rounds over $100M). Due to their disproportionate size, these types of rounds can make or break an ecosystem’s funding performance. In 2023, MENA’s five largest rounds constituted 43% of the region’s total funding. Four of those rounds were led by Saudi-based companies. The remaining one was in Egypt.

• Forward motion: The Saudi film industry is poised for an era of dynamic growth

  In 2023, 443 films were released in local cinemas, amassing 17.4 million admissions – an impressive increase of more than 20% from 2022. Total ticket sales exceeded $240 million, propelling Saudi Arabia to the 15th position globally in box office rankings for the year, according to ComScore. The top three highest-grossing films in Saudi Arabia during 2023 were Oppenheimer, Sattar, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.

• Saudi air traffic hits new heights: Flights up 16% to 815,000, passengers surge 26% to 112 million in 2023

  The General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has reported remarkable progress in Saudi Arabia's air traffic performance for 2023. There has been significant growth across flights, passenger numbers, and global connectivity, which is attributed to the implementation of the Saudi Aviation Strategy. In 2023, the Kingdom experienced a 16% increase in the total number of flights, rising from 701,290 to 814,995. The number of passengers surged by 26% from 88 million to 112 million, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, Saudi Arabia expanded its air connectivity, now linking 148 destinations with at least 52 flights to and from the Kingdom daily.

• The Middle East’s Oil Giants Have Entered the Critical Minerals Race

  “This is not about replacing the bedrock of their economic engine away from oil to minerals,” said Ahmed Mehdi, managing director at Renaissance Energy and a visiting fellow at the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy. “This is more about making sure that they have a seat at the table in the energy transition, especially given how geopolitically charged this industry is.”

• Saudi Arabia is not abandoning upstream investment

  The 13 million bpd capacity expansion plan would have cost Aramco $40 billion. A big focus area that was stressed by Aramco’s management this year is increasing gas production by 60 percent by the year 2030. The gas will mainly come from the Jaffoura basin and will help Aramco displace around 1 million bpd of liquids that are currently being burnt for power generation in the Kingdom.

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